Stand in the Rain
by Artemis's Liege
Summary: Chapter Ten: Tenten explains to Lee why exactly he'll never be able to defeat Neji. The reason certainly isn't what Lee expected to hear. Leeten friendship.
1. Guyten: Misfit

This will be a collection of one-shots revolving around the relationships in Team Guy, particularly Tenten and Guy himself. I just love GuyTen father-daughter stuff.

I do not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does. And if I did own Naruto, I would give Tenten some sort of backstory, or at least a last name. And I'd give Gaara some more angst. Because he needs that.

Read and review!

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Misfit

It was the second day since Lee, Neji, and Tenten were assigned to Team Guy, and Guy took them out to the training grounds to see what they had learned at the Academy, and to see what areas needed improvement. Guy pointed out the painted, wooden targets, and instructed his students to throw a shuriken at the target, one at a time. Lee exclaimed excitedly, Neji scoffed at the prospect of performing such a basic art, while Tenten just watched their reactions impassively, no expression on her face, one hand resting unconsciously on her weapons pouch.

Guy, a gentleman by nature, allowed Tenten, the lone female of the group, to demonstrate the technique first.

By no means is Guy sexist. After all, his only female teammate was the most belligerent and cold-blooded member of his genin cell. Guy knew that kunoichi could be vicious and bloodthirsty; his on-again off-again girlfriend Anko had proven that on the battlefield time after time. But what he didn't expect was for Tenten to throw the shuriken with such force that when it hit the bull's eye, the target cracked and the pieces fell to the ground.

Lee and Neji stared at Tenten and Guy did as well, however, he was not dumbfounded like them. His eyes searched her dispassionate face, and Guy wondered if his initial assessment of her skills was wrong. Tenten certainly made an impression on people, despite her emotionless manner, perhaps _due_ to her emotionless manner.

Guy had observed that Tenten's face more often than not remained unreadable, and that she seemed to flinch away from any sort of contact with people. The girl moved with precision and confidence, her lithe body accustomed to a feline grace. Yet she wasn't pretentious; her unconcealed dispassionate manner abolished that idea.

Tenten was always fully aware of what was going around her, and in other places that caught her interest. The girl never missed a detail, even when it appeared that she hadn't paid the slightest attention. These qualities were valuable for a ninja, yet when found in a twelve-year-old girl, observed her Academy teachers (And Guy concurred), such traits seemed almost _misplaced_ in a sense.

"Well done, Tenten," Guy congratulated her. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and Tenten flinched, as if she expected him to hit her. She half turned her head to look at him, to search his expression and determine if he meant her harm. And when Tenten did, Guy could see that her stoicism was gone, and replaced by a look of fear that reflected in her eyes. She looked much more vulnerable, and Guy was suddenly reminded that no matter how emotionless she was, Tenten was still a child.

So Guy smiled reassuringly at Tenten, and he saw a corner of her mouth tug upward, and her fear vanished.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Years later, Guy finally understood why Tenten reacted that way.


	2. Leeten: Wishes

Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. No money was/is/will be produced from this page.

The second chapter. Thank you to Aoi Nami-cham, who reviewed my first chapter.

Author's Note: This is Leeten. The moment is short, but I like to think that its part of the reason Tenten eventually develops a crush on him.

You know how in Part I when Naruto has all those flashbacks to when he and Sasuke were alone as children, and they were playing on a playground? Well, this is the same playground.

I realize that Tenten's thought process is too mature for an eight-year-old, but in Naruto, kids are often way too mature for their respective ages, so this is almost canon continuity.

* * *

Twilight was descending over Konoha. The sky was alight with color, hues of pink and oranges trailing in the wake of setting sun. Tranquility settled over the village as wives cooked dinner and husbands arriving home from work, greeted by their children running to them excitedly.

The scene didn't change at all on the playground. Two young girls sat together on the swing set, the platinum blonde chattering on excitedly about her new kimono and how pretty it looked.

"Oh, Tenten, you'll have come over to my house and see it! The fabric is so silky, and it's patterned with cosmos blossoms- my favorite flower, out of all the flowers there are- "

"Ino, it's time to go home!" Ino's father called from park entrance.

"'Bye, Tenten!" Ino shouted before running and jumping into her father's arms. Ino's two friends, Shikamaru and Choji, gave Tenten cursory glances while following their own fathers back home.

The playground was now empty, save herself, and the silence was only broken by the creak of the chains on her swing as she rocked back and forth, not actually swinging, yet not completely stationary. Tenten felt weariness creep into her body, and she could feel dull hunger in her stomach, and was painfully reminded of how she had been driven from her home that afternoon. Tenten hadn't been given the opportunity to take any food before she had fled. She had money with her, enough to sit down at a restaurant and pay for a meal if she wanted, but she was worried people would question why an eight-year-old girl was out eating alone instead of with her family.

Yuuna, her father's wife, would rather allow a dog to come eat at the dinner table with her before accepting Tenten's company. The woman was bearable when Tenten's father was home; then she didn't dare do anything to harm his daughter, illegitimate as she was.

Her father's presence was enough to prevent Yuuna's irrational behavior, although he had little interaction with Tenten herself. He always had been more interested in Tenten's half-brothers: Yuuna's children, identical twins Hajime and Arata, older than Tenten by three years, and also training to be ninja.

But at times like these, when her father was away on business, Yuuna was a monster. If Tenten didn't leave her sight immediately, Yuuna would throw the closest objects she could find at her. Tenten smiled faintly; she was able to easily dodge Yuuna's projectiles. Unlike her, the woman had no accuracy when it came to pinpointing her target. However, Tenten's smile vanished as she remembered the blows she had received from Yuuna, which occurred only occasionally when she did not run fast enough.

Tenten tried to spend as little time as possible in her family's actual house, and often remained in the manor's gardens or courtyards for hours. A life of luxury meant little when you had to wait till midnight sneak up the servants' staircase in order to avoid your father's wife, who hated you because you were living testament to her husband's infidelity.

Yuuna had never allowed Tenten play with her brothers, perhaps due to some bizarre belief that Tenten was contaminated. Thus, Tenten had not known how to act around other children. She quickly learned to assimilate with her classmates at the Ninja Academy. The nail that stood out was the one that got hammered in the hardest, and Tenten soon realized that if she just stayed in the background and behaved as expected- even if she didn't honestly feel that way- her teachers and classmates left her alone. But this facade was wearing thin, and Tenten found herself wishing she had the courage necessary to be a person, instead of just the general idea of how a child should be.

Ino had initiated the friendship between them, so Tenten wasn't sure she actually comprehended what friendship was. To be honest, the only reason she was friends with Ino was because Ino indicated she wanted to be friends with her. Ino's mother was a first cousin of Tenten's father, thus Ino and Tenten were second cousins, and their fathers had been friends from their own Genin days. (1) Because Ino knew Tenten, she would often invite her to her home for dinner, or just to play at her house. If her father was home, Tenten would gladly return the favor. But beyond this, what was friendship?

Tenten looked into the sky, which was gradually growing dark. She sighed, knowing that sooner or later she would have to return to the manor. The prospect filled her with dread.

Tenten heard footsteps and saw motion from the corner of her eye. She glanced in the direction of the movement and realized that she wasn't alone as she thought she had been. A boy her age stood beside the swing set. The obsidian eyes and shiny black braid were vaguely familiar to Tenten; his name was Lee and he was in her grade at the Academy, but she didn't have any actual classes with him. (2)

"It's getting dark. Aren't your parents going to come and get you?" Lee asked.

"I'm supposed to walk home by myself," Tenten stated flatly.

"We could walk home together if you'd like," he offered benignly.

One of the few things Tenten had been taught about how to interact with people was not to trouble them unnecessarily. It was only polite, she was told, to assure that someone didn't go out of their way to help you when such aid wasn't needed.

She had been walking back to her home alone for months now. So, Tenten decided, if Lee lived in an area far away from her home, it would be impolite for her to ask him to walk with her.

This was not without regret, for Tenten would have appreciated some company.

"Which way do you go home?" Tenten asked Lee courteously.

"I walk through the marketplace," he replied.

"I live in the opposite direction," Tenten said dispassionately. (3) She stood and began to walk away, then paused. "But thank you."

It's when Tenten remembered Lee and his concern on her lonely walk home that she wished she understood what friendship was.

* * *

(1) In my background for Tenten, her father was a ninja who was injured on the battlefield. He recovered almost fully from the injury, which was in his leg, but this kept him from returning to life as a ninja. Instead, he took over the family business, and tripled the family fortune. (I'm planning on the family business being chain of upper-class hotels, although I don't think there are that many commercial hotel chains in Naruto-land).

(2) In part I, during Sasuke's battle with Naruto before he defects from the village, he has flashbacks during which his report card is shown. His grades show "1st of 30" and "1st of 90." I assume that means that at the Ninja Academy there are three classes of thirty students for a single age group. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

(3) In "Misfit" I use an adjective to describe Tenten as "dispassionate" at every given opportunity. I know I'm really hammering it in, but I'm trying to make a point that Tenten actually has feelings, but doesn't show them for lack of a person to share her feelings with. She isn't as socially backwards as Sai, thank goodness, because she is able to act as any person expects her to. Hence the line, "Tenten found herself wishing she had the courage necessary to be a person, instead of just the general idea of how a child should be." I'm going to try to show that her team brought her out of her shell, and helped her to be her own person.

I promise, next time there will be no annoying footnotes. I just felt like some of these things needed an explanation, because this is the beginning of a story.


	3. Tenten: Dreams

Disclaimer: I do not own Narutoor any of its characters, nor am I making any money from this page.

This my interpretation of Tenten's thoughts when Guy asked them about their dreams. Kudos to anyone who can spot contradiction between Tenten's dream and her actions.

The dialogue from the actual scene is not exact. It's a mix of the anime and the manga, and some of it might just be my own.

Read, enjoy, and review, please!

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"From today you are Genin. I'd like for each of you to share your dreams as a ninja," Guy informed his three students.

Dreams?

For once, Tenten has no idea how to act or what to say. If someone had asked her this eight months ago, she still would be at a loss of what to say, but her thought would have been freedom from Yuuna. Her father's wife had no control over her intense anger towards Tenten, the illegitimate offspring of Yuuna's husband and another woman.

Without Yuuna, Tenten wouldn't have had to dread going home from the Academy each day, with the tension of having to prepare to run at the sight of Yuuna once she was at the manor. And no Yuuna meant no sneaking down into the kitchen in the early morning hours just to get food for breakfast.

But Yuuna was gone now. Last winter she had contracted pneumonia, and because of complications of a weak immune system from a childhood illness, had passed on only three weeks after falling ill. Tenten had been surprised at the quick deterioration of Yuuna's condition, and had felt slightly guilty, wondering if her intense aversion to Yuuna had somehow brought about her fate. Inwardly though, Tenten was aware that she couldn't have been responsible for Yuuna's death, but she did feel awful at her relief that Yuuna was no longer around to terrorize her.

Sojiro, Tenten's father, had remarried six months after Yuuna's death. Mariko, her father's new wife, was a twenty-six year-old Jonin-level medical ninja, so skilled that she was the Chief of Medicine at the Konoha Hospital. Blonde, drop-dead gorgeous, and charismatic, Mariko gave the entire manor a different aura than when Yuuna had lived there. For reasons Tenten didn't know, Mariko had expressed interest in her training. This was unusual for Tenten, because the few occasions when adults paid attention to her most often were because she was in trouble.

But . . . dreams?

Sojiro had made it very clear toTenten at a young age that she was a weapon for the clan, and only useful as long as she was a weapon. His words to her on that day were the catalyst for something Tenten did not quite understand herself.

_"You are a weapon of the clan. You will live to serve as weapon to us."_

From that day on, Tenten never quite looked at a knife or her older brothers' shuriken the same way. It was like every weapon Tenten saw shared a kinship with her. She was a weapon, and so were they. By the time she was seven, barely a year after Sojiro had welcomed her to the hard, cold reality of the shinobi way, Tenten had abandoned children's playthings for more metallic and lethal objects. Although this broke the rule Tenten had formed for herself- do not attract unnecessary attention- she felt determined to master the use of every known weapon she could find. During Tenten's Academy years, her interest in weaponry expanded so greatly that Misuki, one of her Academy teachers, had dubbed this fixation "a disturbing and abnormal obsession."

Sojiro was not an overly affectionate father, but he did appear to feel some guilt about his frequent absences. Throughout her childhood he showered Tenten with fine gifts from his travels: fancy clothes, elegant dolls, cashmere plush toys, and a minimal amount of sweet, flower-scented perfume and jewelry, because Sojiro said she was too young to have very much of those things. He often gave gifts to Tenten's older half brothers as well, but not as many. Tenten suspected this was because Sojiro spent much more time with his sons than with her, and thus felt less guilt because he was not as much as an absence in their lives as he was in her's.

Dreams had no place in Tenten's life. She had never needed to dream, she was too focused on reality to ever do so.

But if there was one thing Tenten wanted, it was the courage to come out of the background and step into the limelight. The ability to be a person, an individual. Everyone else took it for granted, never having to pretend that everything was okay when it was all coming apart. And now, Tenten was so caught in her own lies to fulfill the perceptions of other people that her true personality had vanished. Or maybe it had never existed in the first place. And yet, she must have a personality, because she had already taken the first step to being herself: the weapons, her own interest and no one else's.

Her own person. A teammate, a friend, a student. Not her father's weapon, the clan's weapon, or Yuuna's victim.

A person. Just a person. That was her dream.

Tenten glanced at Lee, Neji, and Guy. If she was going to be her own person, she needed people to recognize her as such. This was her chance. From here on out, Tenten would be the best possible ninja she could.

Being her own person. There was the problem. How did one become themself? It was a natural process, Tenten decided. She would just be courteous for now, she had decided that when she'd seen Guy-sensei's muscles rippling beneath his spandex.

Yes. She would start out polite. Now that she was free of meddling adults breathing down her neck, she didn't even have to display emotion. No more faking happiness or laughter that she didn't feel. If Tenten had hadn't mimicked the other children and their actions and reactions at the Academy, someone would have noticed, which would've led to questions. And Tenten hated being a bug under a microscope. She just wanted people to leave her alone.

At her sensei's words, the long-haired boy, Neji crossed his arms. "I'd rather not say."

Tenten certainly wasn't going to share her dream, either. It was just too private. She searched her mind for something appropriate for a girl her to say, and came up with a name from a textbook. "I'd like to become a strong ninja like the legendary female ninja Tsunade-sama."

There. That should satisfy them. Tenten knew that Guy-sensei was probably glad she wasn't hoping for some loser boy to ask her out on a date, like so many of the other girls in her class.

Sudden movement startled Tenten, and she jerked away from Lee, whose hand had shot into the air.

"My dream is to prove that you can become a great ninja even without being able to use genjutsu or ninjutsu! That is everything to me!"

"Heh." Neji smirked.

"What's so funny?" Lee demanded, jumping up off the bench, ready to confront Nthe other boy.

"All right, settle down," Guy-sensei said, traces of warning in his friendly tone. Before Guy focused on Lee and Neji, Tenten caught his glance at her.

And she knew he didn't believe a single word she said.

Maybe, Tenten mused, it wasn't just that her teammates would prove that she was her own person. Maybe they would help her to be her own person.

Tenten looked directly at Guy, who returned her gaze evenly. He was the first person to see through her act in a long time.


	4. Guyten: Morals

Author's Note: Yes, I changed the title. The former one was somewhat sappy, so I decided on a new one, and I think it's better suited to the mood of the story. Yes, it was inspired by Superchick.

Also, it might seem as if Guy is somewhat OOC in this chapter. I have a tendency to write him as a serious adult instead of his set character. Apologies to everyone who will miss Guy's usual youthfulness, but I'll try to do a better job of writing his character next time.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, and the song "Stand in the Rain" belongs to Superchick. I am not making any money from this page.

Read, enjoy, and review please!

* * *

Nature, Guy thought fondly while watching the sunset, was a beautiful thing.

Guy had loved and appreciated nature since he was a teenager, but this area of the Land of Fire was particularly scenic. His recently formed team had been commissioned to help repair a village ravaged by hailstorms. It was a shame that Lee and Neji were too exhausted from their hammering contest they'd held while reconstructing the town hall to join him. Tenten was around somewhere; specifically where Guy did not know, but he planned to have a talk with her about the courtesy of letting someone know where you were and when you would be there.

Moments later, Guy heard footsteps in the grass, approaching from behind him. Tenten sat down beside him on the large, flat boulder, her facial expression the living example of a sullen teenager, despite only being a preteen. She looked at Guy, then at the sunset, then back at Guy, as if trying to figure out what he found so fascinating.

"Hello Tenten-chan," Guy greeted her. She looked at him, faint surprise showing on her face that he had addressed her. Guy was perplexed. After all, the girl was sitting right next to him, did she seriously expect him to ignore her? He resisted the urge to shake his head and dismiss her polite but odd mannerisms. Perhaps he was being overly judgmental, but he was beginning to think her special file from the Academy was right, and that she was a destructive force waiting to be unleashed.

"Hello Sensei," Tenten replied. She seemed almost guarded, as if she was waiting for him to become upset with her.

Guy mentally groaned. If she was always going to be closed off and defensive, the performance of his team could not be expected to be successful. Yes, all three of his students had been potential, but potential was useless if they couldn't work together.

Guy willed himself not to display his exasperation as he asked, "Are you enjoying our visit here, Tenten-chan?"

"Yes," she replied simply without twelve-year-old met his gaze, her expression unreadable. "Sensei, do you think there's any truth to Neji's philosophy about fate?"

Guy considered her query. "You mean, do I believe that a person's life is predestined, and no matter how much that person fights against fate, it is inevitable?"

"Yes," Tenten confirmed

"No," he responded. "I think that a person makes their own destiny through their choices and actions."

Tenten studied him for a moment. "Do you believe morals are important?"

Guy had no idea where this conversation was going, but determined to forge onward anyway, he chose to reply, "Yes."

"But why do morals matter?" Tenten asked. "Let's say I'm standing at the top of a staircase, and I accidentally knock into someone, and the momentum causes them to fall down the staircase. Or I deliberately push the person down the staircase. The next day, they will have bruises, no matter if my actions were intentional or not. If morality doesn't change the outcome of the situation, what's the point?"

At that moment, Guy couldn't help but wonder exactly what Tenten's parents were like, and what had inspired this particular train of thought. Her question didn't sound like a prelude of a challenge to his views, but an honest inquiry about his thoughts on the subject of ethics.

Meaning, Guy realized with a sinking heart, that emotionally reserved as the girl was, she probably had no moral code. Wonderful.

"What do you think morals are, Tenten?" Guy asked her. It would be easier for him to form his response so she would understand if he could get her to clarify.

For the first time, the girl hesitated. Guy noted this; Tenten was normally very self-assured, albeit in a quiet way. Something about her seemed to change, and suddenly the traces of a superficial (pre)teenager were gone, replaced by a young girl who needed to be shown right from wrong.

Tenten seemed to choose her words very carefully. "I'm not sure," she responded finally. "I've always judged situations by the material gain I'll receive from my course of action. Otherwise . . ." she hesitated again and appeared to almost struggle with herself, then admitted, "Otherwise I've just imitated the moral actions of other people. I'm not sure what such actions are supposed to signify."

So that was the reason her Academy teachers had noticed something was off about her. Tenten's actions hadn't been genuine, but a mimicry of others. And now, she had no idea about why people acted in the way they did. Tenten had known the what, when, where, and how, but she didn't know the why.

That was okay. Guy would just have to teach her.

"The point of morality is to assure a person does not condemn themselves by their actions," Guy told her. "When a soldier has to kill in battle to defend their country is one thing. Killing an innocent person is another. When a person kills just for the sake of killing, they become dehumanized. They are nott quite whole anymore, as if a part of them is destroyed."

Tenten was watching him, and maybe Guy just imagined it, but he thought he saw a glimmer of comprehension in her eyes.

"As far as the rest goes . . ." Guy struggled to come up with a way to explain such as abstract concepts of right and wrong, ideas that Tenten didn't completely understand. "Picture it like karma, Tenten-chan. Treat others as you would like to be treated."

Tenten looked at him and blinked. Guy hoped that he was making some progress.

"To follow your example involving the staircase, could you tell me why a person might want to deliberately harm someone like that?"

Her facial expression didn't change, but defiance blazed in her eyes. She recognized what he was doing, and obviously didn't think much of it. But then defiance was replaced by calculation, and Guy saw a corner of her mouth tug upward in a smirk..

"Maybe that person is angry in general. Maybe that person is angry at the one they shoved down the stairs. Or maybe they want to prove that they're tough." Any trace of a smile vanished from Tenten's face as she said, "Or maybe they just want to know what it feels like to watch someone else hurt on their account."

Guy stared at Tenten. He was starting to understand why her file from the Academy said the things it did.

Tenten stared off into the sky. "Do you think that at some point in a person's life, they should just forget about morality? If they've made too many mistakes already?"

"I don't think anyone should ever give up," Guy said, watching the girl beside him. "We have free will, and we always have the opportunity to change our lives for the better."

The girl turned to glance at him. "Maybe some people have missed those opportunities. Maybe they didn't recognize those opportunities in the first place. Or perhaps they chose to let the opportunities go past."

"Then they should seize the next opportunity they see," Guy said. "The true strength of a person shows through their perseverance."

Tenten didn't reply for several moments. "Maybe the person could watch someone else as an example," she suggested. "Just to learn more about morals." Tenten offered Guy a smile, and for once, it wasn't the fabricated expression she had used on her teachers at the Academy. This time, her smile was small, but genuine.

Guy smiled back at her. "I think that would be a good idea."

Teacher and student turned their attention to the darkening sky once again. Except for the crickets chirping in the grass, it was silent. Tenten shivered. The temperature was beginning to drop now that the sun had gone down.

Tenten glanced at Guy, whose attention was still focused on the emerging stars. She rubbed her bare arms and wished she had worn a shirt with sleeves. Oh well.

A pair of arms wrapped around Guy's torso and held on tightly. Guy stared at the girl who had a death grip on his lower chest and upper stomach.

"Tenten-chan, what are you doing?"

The girl glanced up at him. "I'm cold."

And she was. Guy could feel the cold radiating from her body to his. Honestly, he didn't know how it was possible for her body temperature to be that low.

Tenten heard Guy exhale, and felt his muscles relax as he did so. The spandex didn't lie; he really was well-toned, especially his rigid ab muscles.

With one hand, Guy ruffled Tenten's hair, and used his other arm to return the embrace. He smiled.

Maybe her file from the Academy was wrong, and Tenten wasn't such a bad kid after all.


	5. Nejiten: Darkness Part I

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, and I am not making any money from this page.

Author's Note: Okay, this may seem a little strange. It's basically a metaphor for Neji's life before and after he met Tenten, the first person who ever seemed to understand him. It will be followed by a companion piece.

Pairings: This is the closest I will ever come to writing Nejiten. This is Nejiten friendship, and later in the companion piece, one-sided Nejiten.

And with that, I hope you enjoy the story!

Read and review, please!

* * *

The boy shivered, and tried to shift to a more comfortable position. The walls and floor of the room were smooth cement, but were also cold and hard. It was the hard texture that bothered him the most; he had adjusted to the cold long ago. It had seeped into his being and frozen his heart.

The darkness made the prison-like room even worse. At twelve and the majority of those years spent in the unlit room, he should have been used to the darkness by now. Yet he wasn't, and he felt that the darkness was more hellish than any other form of torture could ever be.

Sometimes he felt grateful to be alone, although never quite at peace. Other times, he wanted desperately to have someone to talk to. Just to distract from this darkness that pressed down on him and seemed to suffocate him.

And other times, he just wanted to get out.

He didn't know where the door was, but he could hear people outside his room. Laughing, and singing merrily, occasionally arguing, but always returning to a happy tone in the end.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps in the darkness. His darkness.

"Hello?" He called, his voice tinged with uncertainty. He was completely unable to see in the pitch black, windowless room.

The footsteps paused. "Why bother with manners in a place like this?" The voice was feminine, but low-pitched and slightly throaty.

"I thought I was alone," the boy confessed, relieved that his solitude had finally come to an end.

He could sense rather than see the other person- the girl because she had sounded young- approaching, and he could hear her breathe as she sat down close to him.

"I thought I was, too," she replied, no absolute emotion in her tone.

The people out side the room were back, and sounded happier than ever. The boy felt a pang of envy stab him.

"How long have you been here?" He asked the girl.

"A few years less than you have," she said.

The boy felt her breath on his neck as she wrapped her arms around his stiff shoulders and embraced him.

The boy thought that he knew cold, but this girl was freezing. Cold radiated from her body, and the darkness seemed more prominent around her as well, and he suddenly understood.

While his heart had been consumed by cold, the darkness had a chokehold on hers.

There was a particularly loud burst of happy laughter from outside the room.

"Do you think we'll ever get out?" The boy asked, jealousy creeping into his tone.

"Yes," the girl said, fierce determination in her voice. "Someday, we will."

The boy lost track of the time they spent there. But he couldn't help feeling slightly guilty. After all, he hadn't wanted to be alone, but he hadn't wanted someone else to share his suffering.

Of course, the girl was probably consumed by the darkness for her own reasons.


	6. Nejiten: Darkness Part II

Author's Note: Here is the second part of the story. Mainly Nejiten friendship, hints of one-sided Nejiten.

Enjoy!

* * *

Many people of Konoha came to believe that Tenten was the light to Neji's darkness. That she was his redeemer, the one meant to save him from a lifetime of misery and sorrow.

Recalling all the times the two of them walked down the streets together, stances defensive, hard expressions on their faces, and Tenten's gaze, level but most definitely colder then his own, Neji wondered how the hell anyone had come to this conclusion.

For years, Neji thought he was alone. There were other people, but he himself had no one. In a way he was grateful, because no distractions meant he was able to focus his complete attention on his goal. Yet sometimes, it was all he could do to ignore the sense of loneliness that never quite left him.

Things changed when he was placed on his Genin team.

His graduating class contained twenty-six students. Eight teams and two leftover students, who happened to be himself and the dead-last, Rock Lee. Until the top kunoichi of all three classes was unceremoniously dragged into the room by Misuki-sensei, who informed the two surprised boys that this was Tenten, and she would be the third member of their cell.

Later, Neji discovered that it had all been carefully arranged that he and Lee would be lacking a teammate, so another student from a different class would have to be brought into fill that gap (read: Tenten). This was because the Academy teachers had decided together to put the three most prominent disciplinary cases on one team, and then assign them to the one ninja who had enough patience to deal with them. Apparently, doing the right thing and separating them to different teams in order to be fair and spread the misery around hadn't occurred to them.

Neji was took pride and amusement in the irony that even though they were the team composed of the supposedly "problem children," they were the only team out of all the classes for that year to pass the Genin exam. Usually political connections saved a few of the teams from going back to the Academy, but this time all of the other teams failed so abysmally that not even their friends in high places could save them. Neji had smirked in self-satisfaction when he'd heard the news. He was less thrilled at the discovery that because usually the Genin teams of the same year worked together on missions, they would have to work with the group of Genin teams in the year _below_ them.

Tenten was one of the primary reasons they had passed. At first, he hadn't known what to think of the girl. When Misuki-sensei left as quickly as he could, she had flopped down onto the nearest bench, which happened to be right next to Lee, taken out a tanto, and proceeded to sharpen it on one of the desks. Neji and Lee had exchanged wide-eyed glances of shock and anxiety at the prospect of a girl with a weapon fetish on their team.

And yet within five minutes of Guy-sensei's explanation of the bell test, she had formulated a flawless strategy that had allowed them to pass. She collaborated their talents so expertly that was almost frightening, considering that she had only first met them an hour ago.

Then there was her ninja goal. Neji hadn't been sure what it was, but something had nagged him about what she had said, leading him to believe that he hadn't been the only who had declined to share his true intentions.

Looking back on it, Neji couldn't exactly pinpoint when it had occurred to him. He just remembered feeling happier than he had in a long time.

_She understood._

Tenten was the first person who truly could comprehend Neji's anger at the injustice of his Clan. To feel so angry that it was like seeing the world through blood-red glasses. She understood how frustrated he felt, to be held back by such petty restraints. Most of all, she understood what it was like to be alone. He had never met someone who was so completely like him. Someone who understood the darkness he felt trapped by.

Maybe it was because of that. Maybe because both of them were so afraid of being alone, they had grabbed hold of one another in the hope that together they would always have the other to rely on. Either way, they shared a bond no one else could begin to fathom.

Tenten was not the light to Neji's darkness. She couldn't be, because she was already tainted by the darkness herself. Tenten may have been Neji's savior, but by no means was she his redeemer.

Neji knew Tenten did not approve of his bullying of Hinata and her teammates, but nevertheless she stood by him as he did so, doing nothing to stop him while not participating herself. She did this because she always stood by her teammates, no matter how much she disagreed with their actions. Lee exhibited this trait as well, but would always call his teammates out on their behavior later, when they were alone. Neji demonstrated his loyalty to the team by bringing anyone who messed with them to certain harm. Of course, Tenten didn't always agree with this either, more because all three of them would be lectured by Guy-sensei even if only one of them did something wrong, than any concern for morals.

But when Neji briefly glimpsed the hurt on Tenten's face when Lee chased after Sakura and the pinkette played coy, he couldn't help but "accidentally" knock a bucket of paint over the ledge to the spot where Sakura was standing. Which, as an added bonus, ruined her hair, her clothing, and any chance she had with the Uchiha.

Unsurprisingly, Guy-sensei agreed with Tenten that they disagreed with Neji's course of action, while agreeing that it was kind of him to look out for his teammates, but perhaps not in such an overzealous manner.

Tenten herself did not "bring out the good in Neji." She merely allowed him to be good by giving him a chance, because unlike so many others, she didn't always expect the worst of him. For the most part, Tenten herself did not even judge his actions, immoral as some were, if she was unaffected by their course. Neji often wondered if she didn't see the same villainy behind his actions that everyone else thought to exist, or if she just didn't care. He varied between the two, but more often than not, he strongly suspected the latter.

It was difficult to decide, because when it came to acting, Tenten was an extraordinaire. Even Neji, who knew her better than anyone else, had trouble distinguishing between the times when Tenten kept up her act and the times her actions were genuine and not some ruse to fool other people. At other times, even when Tenten was her sincere self, she would casually lie about being interested by a certain style of architecture, or mention how cute she thought a certain dress was.

What perturbed Neji was that these were not even white lies for the sake of courtesy, but topics she brought into conversation herself, and Neji wondered if this was a sign she never actually stopped acting.

They had been teammates for over a year, and Neji felt closer to her than he had ever felt to anyone else, with the exception of his father. And while Neji didn't understand the gleam in her eyes when using her weapons, and she didn't understand his fatalistic beliefs, Neji never wanted to lose her friendship.

Because to Neji, Tenten was not his redemption. She was hope, because she was as consumed by the darkness as he was.

* * *

A tanto is small Japanese knife. .org/wiki/Tant%C5%8D

Review please!


	7. Leeten: Fractured

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, and I am not making any money off of this page.

Author's Note: I'm considering taking Guy out of the character filter. On one hand, it helps to distinguish from the other Tenten stories out there, but on the other hand, Guyten is the focus of less than a third of these stories. Should I keep Guy in the character filter or not? You tell me.

Also, this story has a slight tie-in to "True Blue" which is another one of my Naruto fics. You don't have to read "True Blue" to understand this story, but it might be helpful. Also, this chapter references Chapter Three: Dreams and Chapter Four: Morals. If you haven't those, same thing.

This chapter is mainly Tenten-centric, with hints of Leeten.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

The hospital room was disturbingly quiet.

There were no monitors that Tenten could see. Obviously, that indicated that Lee was not in immediate danger. That was something, at least.

Weariness crept into her body as she sat down in the visitor's chair beside his bed. The mission had been simple, guarding the birthday party of an aristocrat's daughter was like a vacation after the rigors of the Chunin Exams. The aristocrat had specifically requested members of the Ryuuko Clan, and so her father had sent Tenten, her twin brothers, and one of their cousins on their way. But Tenten and her team had only just returned to Konoha after running back all day, and right now, she was exhausted.

Neji had always claimed that fate ruled life, that whatever occurred was predestined. He was a fatalist, but as Tenten looked at Lee's sleeping form, she wondered if he perhaps had a point. Lee was never again going to live the life of a ninja. It was as simple as that. Tenten could ask Mariko, her stepmother and Chief of Medicine of the Konoha Hospital, to call in a few favors, but there was only so much that could be done. When her spine had been broken, it had been a clean fracture, easy for a medical ninja to heal, and it had been treated quickly due to her relation to Mariko, who had status because of her position in the hospital. But Mariko had told her the bone in Lee's right arm and leg had been crushed, shattered to pieces. There wasn't much anyone could do to help.

Unless of course, that Tsunade woman of the Sannin returned to Konoha. More than a year had passed since Tenten had tried to con her team into believing that Tsunade was someone she admired and idolized. She had seen the name in a textbook, and later fabricated her dream while attempting to establish trust between her and the rest of the team. Guy-sensei hadn't bought it, she remembered, he had seen right through her lie. Tsunade may have been a legendary ninja, but Tenten did not want to be like her. Tsunade, a healer who was famous around the world for her doctoring abilities, had abandoned her own home village, and Tenten didn't respect people who fled when others were depending on them.

Tenten had given up on acting normal to gain her teammates' trust soon after that; she had realized that lying in an attempt to appear trustworthy was counterproductive.

But if this Tsunade returned, and her abilities were as powerful as the stories told, then she could help Lee. But Tenten knew that the chances of that happening were slim to none. She had to face reality and acknowledge that Lee's dream was gone, broken to pieces along with his body.

He wasn't the only one. Her good friend Ino, the unfortunate Hinata Hyuuga, and Kiba Inuzuka were out of the finals, and so was that one girl who she didn't know but Ino had disliked, Sakura Haruno. All had dreamed of going on to become Chunin, but like her, that dream would have to wait another half year.

Her dream . . . while it was still possible for her to become a Chunin, Tenten knew that the other part of her dream now would never come to pass. She had been determined to become a great ninja in her own right, without using her Clan's _kekkei genkai_. But she knew that wasn't possible anymore. She had fought only using weapons, and she had lost the fight. There was no shame in losing itself, but the thought that she wasn't strong enough with her weapons alone, but needed the _kekkei genkai_ to be a competent ninja angered her. Ever since the day her father, Sojiro Ryuuko, had told Tenten that she was only a weapon for the Clan, weapons had fascinated her. And she had thought that maybe, just maybe, if she became a strong ninja without the bloodline jutsu, the _Hi no Senshi_, then she would be a person. Not a weapon, not anymore. And then she would finally be free of her father and the entire Clan. Free to live as she pleased, without caring about the ridiculous Clan etiquette or the damnable ceremonies.

The thought of working without her Clan's abilities had always been in the back of her mind, but she had waited until she was assigned to her Genin team to try the idea. Lee had inspired her; she knew his determination to brave the odds despite his predicament took courage. And so she had become Tenten the weapons master, never training with her bloodline in the company of her teammates, only practicing at home with her brothers. No one on her team had spoken to Tenten of her decision, possibly because either too busy with their own lives, they didn't care, or Tenten concluded, they just didn't know.

Tenten wasn't like Lee, Neji, or Guy-sensei. If she had a choice, she never would have become a ninja. But she didn't have choice, her father, far too obsessed with manipulating others, had already decided for her. And so she tried to be as strong of a ninja as possible without using her bloodline abilities. Doing otherwise would be giving into her Clan and becoming one of them.

But Tenten wasn't strong enough. Her father had shown her that. After she had arrived home from the hospital, she had been summoned to his study. He had then informed her that he had asked one of the proctors to fix the computer so she ended up with the worst match possible, someone who would be totally unaffected by her attacks. "Asked one of the proctors" probably meant that her father had bribed someone, but it didn't matter. This proved Tenten wrong and Sojiro right; she would need to use the Clan's jutsu to be a strong ninja. Sojiro had shown her how weak she actually was. If she wanted to protect those close to her, her team, Mariko, Ino and the rest of the families of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, then she would just have to use the _Hi no Senshi_. There was no other choice.

Tenten often used her tarot cards to attempt to predict where her life would take her. That was subscribing to fate, she supposed. But she knew that the cards only predicted possibilities, and that nothing was certain.

But now, Tenten knew she couldn't leave anything to chance any longer. If she had to accept the _Hi no Senshi_, then so be it. She would work hard and give her all. She had been weak once, but now she would train hard, and become a formidable ninja so dangerous that even her father would be wary.

Pins and needles stabbing her fingers pulled Tenten back into awareness, and she realized she was still clutching the bouquet of flowers she had brought for Lee. The cellophane crinkled as she carefully pulled the wrappings away from the flower stems, remembering Ino's words about the importance of giving cut flowers to a hospitalized person. Glancing at Lee's bedside table, she noticed a flower reposing in a colorful clay vase, and smiling slightly, added her own contribution. Her smiled vanished as she turned to look at her fallen friend.

Lee, his body, spirit and dream destroyed. She, coerced into finally accepting her Clan's ways. Hinata, beaten to the ground by her own cousin. Had Neji been right? Was this what became of those who tried to fight fate?

The words of her beloved sensei floated across her mind: _I think that a person makes their own destiny through their choices and actions_.

Guy-sensei, Tenten recalled, had told her that shortly before she had played up to his affectionate side in an attempt to win his approval. She grimaced at the memory; the psychology books she'd read all agreed that it was normal for a teenager to try to seek approval from teachers and other authority figures if their parents were distant, but she still was less than proud of that moment.

But Guy-sensei was right, Tenten decided. She had to make her own fate. And now that Lee was no longer a ninja, she would carry his spirit with her, and use it to help her fight.

Now, she would be strong enough for the both of them.

* * *

Ino's suggestions to Tenten of bringing Lee flowers seems like the time she tried to bring flowers to Sasuke in the hospital. Perhaps she suspects that her friend has a crush on Lee.


	8. Team Guy: Envy

Mainly the dynamics of Team Guy. Enjoy, and let me know if you liked it.

* * *

"Could one of you please explain to me why you thought it was a good idea throw a bucket of paint onto Sakura Haruno?" Guy asked in exasperation, his usual bright demeanor gone as he surveyed his three young charges, who currently stood side by side in front of him.

None of them responded. Guy wasn't sure if he had been expecting them to; Lee, perhaps, but certainly not Neji or Tenten. He exhaled, wondering if it was a good thing that every member of his team was so stubborn. He sincerely regretted his decision to accept the invitation from Kakashi to get a drink at a nearby bar instead of staying to supervise the teams.

"Lee," he said, looking at the student who idolized him with great intensity.

Lee's gaze remained downward, hanging his head, and didn't respond.

Guy sighed and focused on his next student. "Tenten."

The girl in question looked up at him blankly, and Guy noticed that a butterfly rested on the open palm of her hand, gently moving its blue wings. He stared at her, and she met his gaze quite impassively. Knowing that extracting a straight answer from Tenten was just as likely as Kakashi showing up on time for a meeting, Guy moved on.

"Neji."

He didn't dislike the boy, but Guy never thought the day would come that he would have to resort to Neji to get an honest answer from his students. Not that Neji wasn't truthful, but just because every word he spoke was convoluted with his own ideas about fate, and it could become monotonous to listen to him speak for long periods of time, and also slightly irksome, due to the sense that he was lecturing them all.

The only response Guy received was stony silence.

"You are lucky that Haruno-san was not hurt," Guy informed them sternly. "If the paint can had hit her on the head instead of spilling midair and just splashing her, she could have been concussed or killed." He stared at them. "Would you have found that funny?"

Neji met his gaze, silver irises alight with an emotion Guy rarely saw him express: mirth.

"I have to say, Sensei, I don't think that one of us intentionally spilled a bucket of paint onto the girl because we thought it was 'funny.'" A corner of Neji's mouth twisted upward into the faintest of smirks. "Maybe we just got tired of her whining, and decided to give her a real reason to complain." Neji quirked an eyebrow and it was Guy's turn to respond with stony silence.

"What about you, Tenten?" He looked to the lone girl of his team, and she tore her attention away from the butterfly once again. "Did you think what happened was amusing?"

Stupid question if there ever was one, Tenten had never expressed a sense of humor and rarely smiled, instead most of the time maintaining a totally blank expression reminiscent of a doll, perplexing and unnerving many people in the process.

Per usual, Tenten let several seconds pass before she replied. "To be fair to Haruno-san, all of them were annoying. That loud blonde boy and the Uchiha as well, even if he was a genius and very handsome." She stretched out her arm, allowing the butterfly to fly free, and she watched it go before turning back to Guy. "All that glitters isn't gold, I guess."

Before Guy could even think of how to reply to such a statement, another voice cut in.

"No matter how annoying you may have found her, it was not right for you two to do that to Sakura-chan!"

The Second Green Beast of Konoha glared at his friends ferociously, obsidian eyes blazing with anger. Neither of them was particularly threatened, or at least didn't outwardly display it. Tenten retained her lack of expression while Neji scoffed.

"Spare us the outrage, Lee," Neji said. "Just because you find her attractive doesn't excuse her infantile behavior."

"And just because you do not like her does not excuse your behavior!"

"Oh please, Lee," Neji said haughtily. "Such imbecile like that is guaranteed to get her comeuppance eventually; the assignment we received to work with her team to repaint public buildings is evidence that I was the one fated to hand it out."

Guy interrupted the argument, stunned at its sheer absurdity. "Neji, are you saying that fate condemned you to pour paint onto that poor girl?"

"I didn't 'pour paint onto that poor girl,'" Neji replied loftily. "I did my duty, as I was fated, to show that know-it-all her place by knocking over a paint can and letting the contents empty on a child who desperately needed a lesson in manners, who just so happened to be standing directly beneath." Neji shrugged, and folded his arms over his chest. "In all honesty, I can say that white is a better color than pink for her."

"That is not a laughing matter, Neji!" Lee retorted angrily.

"Fate is never a laughing matter, Lee."

"There is no such thing as fate!"

"Fate is what led me to cover Haruno-san in paint today."

"It is?" Lee asked.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Neji demanded.

"You were jealous that I was talking to Sakura-chan and not you," Lee stated calmly.

"That's totally unfounded," Neji said flatly.

Lee shrugged. "Usually I talk to Tenten and you as we work, but since Sakura was there, she had all of my attention. You were jealous and upset because you felt like you had been replaced."

"Ridiculous," Neji insisted, but his pale face now was tinted pink in the cheeks.

"I do not think so," Lee replied, grasping one of Neji's hands tightly, causing the other boy to jump back in surprise at the unexpected gesture. "You are my friend and rival, Neji. There's no need to feel jealous. No one could ever replace you."

Neji didn't seem to know how to respond to this, and looked away. Lee just smiled at him.

Guy glanced over at Tenten, to see that she had folded her arms across her chest, and was also looking away, but amazingly enough, her expression was vaguely annoyed, although Guy couldn't fathom why.

He sighed mentally. If this was what his students were like at thirteen, they could only get worse during their remaining teenage years.

Then a thought occurred to him, and Guy couldn't help but smile. If nothing else, at least he would get to watch his kids mature into adults, and be there to help them through it.

Unfortunately, another thought along those lines came to him. Guy knew that he was obligated to be there for his students, because none of them had any other well-intentioned adult to guide them. If he were stand by and watch, but not intervene as they made decisions, they would destroy themselves, slowly but surely.

* * *

The incident with Sakura is also mentioned is Chapter 6: Darkness Part II. I hold no ill will to her, I just can picture Neji doing something like that.


	9. Leeten: Insult Part I

Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I am not making any money from this page.

Author's Note: This is the first of two pieces that will examine the relationship of Tenten and Lee, from Lee's perspective. This gives Lee's initial thoughts and reactions concerning Tenten, and the next piece will show them growing closer as friends.

Pairings: Leeten, if you really want to see it there.

Warning: Not betaed, may contain errors.

Reviews and constructive criticism are always appreciated.

* * *

Lee had always thought that girls were somewhat strange.

The girls he had encountered in his twelve years were usually nice for the most part, but transformed into howling monsters when they didn't get their way. They were fussy about their clothes and hair, and would tattle on the boys in class for pulling their hair or pushing them into the mud.

The girl sitting across from him at the table was nothing like that.

The way she sat in her chair showed good posture, but she was relaxed, sitting still without fidgeting, a bad habit so many their age were prone to. She wore a pink shirt with dark green pants, and her hair was bound in two buns on either side of her head in a style reminiscent of a teddy bear. But nothing about her was cute and cuddly: she was pretty, but the remote expression on her face made her seem eerie.

His lone female teammate, known only to him as Tenten.

She never displayed much emotion, agreed with the team when deciding trivialities, because as she put it, she "didn't care for unnecessary altercation." Lee had never seen her express any concern for her clothes and hair; in fact, her clothing frequently became torn or stained with mud or grass, and she always kept her hair bound, probably so it wouldn't get in the way as she hurled grenades at enemies. And Lee was willing to wager that if someone pushed her into mud or pulled her hair, she would slug them in the jaw.

Or perhaps she would poison them.

The information Lee knew about his teammate, or lack thereof, made dining at a restaurant in her company considerably awkward. It was only the two of them, and Lee felt somewhat uncomfortable being alone in Tenten's presence. Team Guy was returning from a mission, and had stopped in a town to spend the night. Neji was perfecting one of his special techniques, and Guy had spent the day practicing with him, while Tenten and Lee had gone to a wooded area and practiced tracking with one another. Neji and Guy had eaten dinner earlier, and that was what Lee and Tenten were doing at the moment.

Neither of them had spoken during the entire time at the restaurant beyond giving their orders to the waitress. Lee felt his cheeks begin to turn red. Here he was, getting dinner with a girl for the first time in his life, and there was only uncomfortable silence.

Well, uncomfortable on his part anyway. Tenten didn't seem to be bothered by it. She was looking at him, her face entirely expressionless. Lee had no idea what she was thinking, and he had no idea what to say to her.

The pretty, young waitress delivered their food- curry for Lee, and an assortment of boiled vegetables for Tenten. Lee thanked the waitress, and Tenten nodded to her, and then woman smiled and moved on to the next table.

Lee picked up his chopsticks, mentally sighing with relief that the silence had been broken. He took a bite of his curry, smiling at the delicious taste of the pungent spice on his tongue. He felt the sensation of eyes on him, and he glanced up at Tenten, who was studying him, chopsticks held still above her plate, paused in the midst of beginning her meal.

"It is good," Lee said happily. He offered the bowl to her. "Would you like to try some?"

" . . . No thank you." Tenten replied, in a tone devoid of thankfulness, or any emotion whatsoever.

"Are you sure?" Lee asked, still gesturing for her to take some of his food.

"Quite."

Lee nodded to acknowledge this, then drew his bowl back to him. "It is just like my mother makes." He looked at Tenten, trying to make conversation. "Have you ever tried curry?"

Tenten looked back at him. "I have not."

"You should try some sometime," Lee encouraged. "My father created a very good recipe. My mother makes it on occasion, but not very often because both of us enjoy it and we don't want to get tired of it. I get could copy the recipe, and then you could give it to one of your parents so they could make it for dinner sometime."

Tenten did not respond immediately. Lee was beginning to notice it was a habit of hers, to wait several seconds before replying. "You're welcome to do so if you want to go thorough the trouble, but if not, don't worry."

"Oh, no, it is fine, Tenten!" Lee assured her. "I will bring you the recipe the next opportunity I have."

"I'll give it to the cook," Tenten acknowledged.

"The cook?" Lee asked in surprise.

"My father and my stepmother are both too busy to prepare meals." Tenten said. "So they pay someone to do so instead."

"Oh," Lee said lamely. Of course that was why Tenten's family had a cook. Lee was aware that this indicated that her family possessed more money than the majority of civilian families, but he was more interested by her parents. "Stepmother . . . does that mean your parents are divorced?" He'd heard of a few marriages that just didn't work out and then the couples divorced their spouses. Not very many, but a large enough number for this to be a possibility.

"No." Tenten replied simply, not elaborating.

A realization hit Lee, and he was suddenly aware that he may have been horribly insensitive. "I am sorry!" He blurted.

Tenten looked up from her meal to meet his eyes, expression unfathomable. "About?"

"I do not, I mean, I did not-" Lee was too flustered to speak coherently. "Your mother is not dead, is she?" He finally asked, blushing that his words were insensitive and straightforward.

Unfortunately for him, Tenten did not allay his fears. "I'm not sure," she shrugged.

"What do you mean?" Lee asked, intrigued in spite of himself.

"I've never met my mother," Tenten replied indifferently.

Lee was taken aback. "B-but who raised you?" If her father was too busy to make dinner, how had he ever reared a child?

"My grandmother, my father's mother." A small but sincere small came to her lips, and Lee couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked when she smiled. "She was a kunoichi before she retired. Out of all my family members, she was the one I was closest to. Even though I must have been a trial to her, and she had no obligation to me in the first place, she always was kind to me." Tenten's smile grew fainter, but didn't completely vanish. "What about you?"

Lee swallowed his curry before he had finished chewing and felt it scrape against the back of his throat. "My mother is an incredibly strong woman. She owns a fair amount of land that she rents to farmers." A odd feeling struck him, as if he had plunged his head into an icy bucket of water. "My father was a ninja. He died on a mission when I was eight."

"My grandmother died when I was eight," Tenten replied evenly. "I guess it isn't such a great age." She locked eyes with Lee. "I'm sorry about your father. I know it can be difficult to lose someone you love."

A distinct feeling of discomfort washed over Lee. Her brown eyes gazed directly at him, with an intensity unsettling for someone who usually didn't emote. It was odd to speak about those who were dead so casually, especially with Tenten, who he could never quite figure out, and seemed almost unapproachable. And Lee supposed she _was_ somewhat detached; to be honest, Neji was more open than she was, and Neji was like a door that had been barricaded shut.

A change in subject matter was definitely necessary, Lee decided. "So . . . you mentioned you had a stepmother. What is she like?"

Tenten sipped her drink. "She's the Chief of Medicine at the Konoha Hospital. Young, golden blonde, and very good-looking."

"Is she nice?" Lee inquired, inwardly ridiculing himself for his pathetic attempts at conversation.

"She's better then-" Tenten broke off, as if correcting herself. "She's taken an interest in me, which is nice of her, I suppose. She doesn't insult me or ignore me."

Lee's brow furrowed as Tenten continued eating her vegetables, exhibiting flawless table manners all the while. Why should her stepmother ignore or insult her? "You and your father are not very close, then?"

Tenten looked at him and quirked an eyebrow. Heat rushed to Lee's cheeks at the expression on the girl's face, a mixture of amusement at his expense and polite inquisitiveness. But in comparison, it was better than the unreadable expression that she wore ninety-five percent of the time.

"Is your father the reason you want to become a ninja?" Tenten asked without warning.

"What?" Lee dropped his chopsticks in surprise.

"You are determined to overcome all obstacles and become a ninja despite your lack of chakra ability. Are you trying to become a ninja because your father would've wanted you to, or because you want to become a ninja for yourself? Or are you just trying to show up everyone else and prove that you're not a failure?"

Lee clenched his hands into fists to quell the trembling in his hands. Anger at this girl for making inquiries that were none of her business and outrage that she would suggest such things boiled in the pit of his stomach, but he did his best to remain calm. "Does it matter?"

It might have been Lee's imagination, but he thought that he saw a corner of Tenten's mouth give the slightest tug upward, as if she wanted to smirk but suppressed the urge. But she remained totally unexpressive, her emotions from earlier gone without a trace. "Of course it matters. If you're doing this to impress other people, or continue your father's legacy, it's not the same as doing this for yourself."

"Does it matter _to you_?" Lee clarified, not taking his eyes off Tenten.

Tenten may have been very good at hiding her emotions, but she wasn't a master. Lee saw a hard glimmer in her eyes, and it seemed as if her entire face had darkened. Dread began to surface over his outrage at his teammate, and he distinctly regretted even trying to have a conversation with Tenten.

"Listen to me. I'm only going to say this once, because I don't believe in reiterating my beliefs at every given opportunity as you and Neji evidently do. It is not worth doing something for another person. If you do, you are giving them power over you. You are allowing them to control you. You should only ever live for yourself, because other people will just use you and toss you aside one they're done. You make yourself an easy target if you try to evade such difficult obstacles just to get attention. If you truly want to be a ninja, that's fine. But if you're doing this for someone else, alive or dead, you aren't going to last in this profession very long, so get out while you still can." Her tone stayed even throughout her statement, and she returned to eating her meal.

Lee could only stare in shock, and only after she glanced at him questioningly did he look away. Their table remained silent except for the sounds of their dining; Lee was not eager to begin another conversation.

Out of all the girls at the Academy, he had to end up with the psychotic one on his team.


	10. Leeten: Insult Part II

A/N: The second part of the relationship between Lee and Tenten. Follows "Insult Part I."

Leeten friendship.

Pain was a part of life. Lee knew this. But he still didn't find dealing pain much easier. He didn't react as much as he once did, but frustration and anger never failed to accompany the times when he tripped, or stubbed his toe, or scratched his hand on a branch.

Failure. That was another thing that Lee experienced often. Everyone did, at some point, but Lee couldn't help but feel that he experienced failure far more frequently than anyone else.

And when the two common elements of his life were combined . . . well, that was just adding insult to injury.

Breathing hard, Lee pushed himself off the ground, brushing twigs and leaves off himself as he did so, grimacing at the fresh grass stains on his clothes. Determinedly, he glared up at the giant oak tree he had been trying to walk up using his chakra. He had watched Neji and Tenten climb to the very top of the tree with ease, attempting to figure out how exactly they moved up the trunk with such fluid grace.

It hadn't helped very much. Lee could only get less than a half of a meter up the tree before gravity kicked and threw him back to the ground, perhaps as a reminder that he belonged there.

Lee gritted his teeth. He could do this.

He surged forward, launching himself directly at the tree. The impact of the thick trunk on his sandals was his cue to focus his chakra, but he felt no energy pulse through him, only the pull of gravity dragging him down.

His body fell, and although Lee desperately attempted to control his movements, there wasn't enough time for him to react before his left leg scraped painfully against the tree bark. He hit the ground with a dull thud, and he lay there for a moment, the air forced from his lungs.

Lee felt hot tears burning in his eyes, and tried to clench his jaw to stop himself from crying, both from disappointment and the pain in his leg. All of this, all of his hard work, for nothing. It had made no difference.

"Lee?"

Startled from his misery, Lee jolted up to find Tenten standing above him, gazing down at his prostrate form.

He scrambled up off the ground, embarrassed about being caught feeling sorry for himself. "Hello Tenten," he greeted her. "What are you doing here?"

True to character, Tenten did not respond right away, allowing several second to pass before she replied. "I decided to check on you," she stated in her emotionless monotone. "With Guy-sensei away on his mission, we all need to be looking out for each other."

"As much as I appreciate your concern, Tenten-" Lee began, but Tenten cut him off.

"Your leg is bleeding," Tenten interrupted unexpressively.

Lee glanced down at her leg, and realized she was correct; thin red rivulets trickled down his flesh where his ankle had scraped against the tree trunk.

"I can help you," Tenten stated. She knelt down on the ground beside him and removed a pouch from her belt. She opened it and turned it upside down, allowing the contents to spill out on the ground. Tenten sifted through small packages of pain pills, a pair of tweezers, snakebite antidote, and hand sanitizer before selecting one of several rolls of bandages, a pad of gauze, and a foil-wrapped antiseptic swab.

"That must come in handy," Lee observed.

"My stepmother gave it to me," Tenten said.

After hearing her words, Lee fell silent, the memorable conversation between the two of them in which Tenten had initially mentioned her stepmother coming to mind.

"This may sting," Tenten informed him, ripping open the package and removing the swab.

A shrug was the only response Lee gave to her, and as he clenched his fists at the sharp bite of the antiseptic, he wondered cynically if this was her way of getting even with him for his lack of reply.

"Tenten," Lee hesitantly began as she finishing cleaning the scrape on his leg. "May I ask you a question?"

"You just did," Tenten pointed out.

Lee stared at her. She stared back, her eyes completely void of sentiment.

"Today while we were training, you told me that I would never to be able to defeat Neji." Lee swallowed. "Do you honestly believe that?"

"Yes," Tenten replied flatly.

Hurt and disappointment washed over him, and Lee did his best not to allow his dismay to show.

"Hold that there," Tenten instructed, placing a gauze pad over the abrasion.

Lee complied. "Why?" He asked suddenly.

Tenten looked up from wrapping a bandage around his leg over the gauze. "Because I want the gauze to help stop the bleeding."

"No, I mean why do you believe that I will never be able to win against Neji?" Lee questioned, his heart pounding nervously.

Using a kunai, Tenten sliced the bandage from the roll, and firmly pressed the end to his skin so the adhesive would take. Then she withdrew her hand and started to gather her medical supplies.

"I don't know if you've noticed this," she said while reorganizing her first aid kit, "but Neji and I have much in common. We're very much alike."

Knowing that Tenten's method for explanation was to open with a non-sequitur and gradually reveal the relation to the topic at hand, Lee kept silent, allowing her to continue.

"The main trait that brought the two of us together is our anger," Tenten went on. "I'm not sure about Neji, but my anger has no particular cause or target, only brought about by certain circumstance."

She snapped the medical pouch shut, and to Lee's surprise, turned to meet his gaze.

"Our anger drives us," she said, her tone cavalier, as if she were commenting on the weather. "It's what gives us the strength and ambition to keep going. If you took that anger away, I'm not sure what we'd be. I don't mind being a vessel to such rage as long as it gives me my own power, but to be honest, I think the anger consumes us."

"That sounds dangerous," Lee said, aghast. "And very destructive, to both yourself and to other people."

"I would expect someone like you to react like this," Tenten replied with a shrug. "But this is just our way of coping with what fate brings to us. It's a way to avoid driving ourselves insane, wondering why tragedies occur, why loved ones are taken away."

"So you believe in fate as well, then?" Lee questioned bitterly.

"It's actually a nice thought," Tenten mused. "That our path is predestined."

"How is that 'nice' at all?" Lee stared at her.

"Would you rather just have your life be a series of mismatched, random occurrences?" Tenten returned.

"So you too believe that I am fated to lose?" Lee asked, perturbed.

"I believe that the anger that pushes Neji and I does not allow us much morality," Tenten stated. "And you are fixated upon morality. Your morality prevents you from fully achieving your goals. If anything, I believe you'll lose because you are a better person than either of us. You'll do what's right, because it's what you believe in, but Neji and I will just do whatever we want, because we can."

Lee was silent for a moment. "So you are saying that my ethics prevent me from being the best ninja I can be?"

"I'm saying that your honor can blind you in certain situations, and some solutions may not occur to you due to your ethics. Neji and I would be willing to take vastly immoral action, but you wouldn't. And I think that indicates a lack of self-preservation." Tenten began sharpening one of her large knives.

"So what would you have me do, Tenten? Sacrifice my morals and honor all for the sake of winning? I want to be a great ninja, but I will do it in my own way." Lee folded his arms across his chest stubbornly.

Tenten gazed at him. "I remember how I told you that you should only be willing to become a ninja to please yourself and not other people. At least you took my advice to heart."

"It was not your advice," Lee objected. "I always wanted to follow my own path, and not one that someone else or fate," he said the last word with scorn, "has laid out for me."

"Fair enough," Tenten responded tonelessly. "But I have to apologize to you, Lee."

"W-what?" Lee stammered, taken aback by her statement.

"When I spoke to you back at the restaurant, I told you that you were wasting your time trying to please other people. I also made several insulting insinuations about you. I'm sorry. I was unfair to you." Tenten appeared sincere despite her emotionless demeanor.

"You are apologizing?" Lee was confused by her sudden, apparent change of heart. "But why?"

"Because I would have been furious if someone had said the same things to me," Tenten replied. "And I was cruel to say those things to you when your father is dead. You're right, you should be able to make your own decisions without anyone telling you what to do. And I believe that your honor makes you a good person. That's probably something Neji nor I would understand, anyway."

Lee grinned at her, hearing only the compliments she had given him. "Thank you, Tenten!"

Tenten extended her hand, and Lee readily shook it.

"Friends?" He asked, smiling.

"Why not?" She replied. "Would you like me to show you how to use your chakra to climb trees?"

"I would appreciate that very much," Lee said. "Thank you." He offered her another dazzling smile.

In return, she sent a smile in his direction, faint but genuine.


End file.
